Common Reading Program to host November 7 webcast of Stevenson lecture

ISSUED: 20 October 2016MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens

SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Shepherd University will host a live webcast of a talk by the author of this year’s Common Reading book, “Just Mercy,” on Monday, November 7, at 7:30 p.m. in the Erma Ora Byrd Hall auditorium. Bryan Stevenson will be speaking at West Virginia University, which also chose the book as its common reading for this year. The event is free and open to the public.

Stevenson is a lawyer and the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, an organization that provides legal representation to people who have been wrongly convicted, received unfair sentences, or were abused in jails and prisons. “Just Mercy” delves into the issue of race relations and how African Americans fare in the legal system.

The book is the true story of Walter McMillian, who was sentenced to death row for a murder he claimed he didn’t commit. It was one of Stevenson’s first cases.

For more information, contact Shannon Holliday at 304-876-5461 or shollida@shepherd.edu, or visit www.shepherd.edu/commonreading.